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On March 5, French students celebrated Mardi Gras in their classes with a feast. The holiday signifies the day before the season of Lent. The celebration is associated with eating rich and fatty foods before giving them up the next day.
Andrea Yocum, chairperson of the world language department, said “In early March the French...

Last month, junior Korryn Reichard walked into her SRT room to grab her things, talking with her friends as they exited. While Reichard was at school, her father went to work but was not receiving a paycheck. Reichard’s...

The recent movie “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” utilized new technology in order to create a style of movie never seen before. The film combined computer animation and traditional hand-drawn comic book techniques. At this school, sophomore Jacob Renay-Lopes uses technology to express himself artistically.
Renay-Lopes utilizes Adobe softwares such as Photoshop and Illustrator to create art for clients about two to three times a month.
Renay-Lopes said, “I primarily do three types of art: digital paintings, graphic design and character...

The women’s swimming team has performed at a high level this entire season. After coming off of a strong win at Sectionals, they are looking to win the State Finals for the 33rd consecutive time.
“This is definitely one of the strongest teams we have had during my four years, everything just clicks and everybody is performing at a high level” Lauren Busha, varsity swimmer and senior, said.
Head...

As March is Developmental Disability Awareness Month, the Best Buddies Club is striving to spread awareness about developmental disabilities in general, as well as about students at CHS with developmental disabilities.
Anne Schuh, Best Buddies president and senior, said club members filmed a music video during SRT to the “Friends” theme song in order to match Best Buddies shirts this year, which are “Friends”-themed as well.
Schuh said, “We just took little clips of everyone showing their friendship in their own way in the video,...

Following new requirements for Scholastic Banquet eligibility, CHS community assesses academically competitive school culture

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Following new requirements for Scholastic Banquet eligibility, CHS community assesses academically competitive school culture

Special Speakers:
Timothy Dixon, Principal’s Advisory Board member and senior, speaks at the Scholastic Banquet on April 16, 2018. To qualify for the Scholastic Banquet in the 2018-2019 school year, seniors must have a cumulative GPA of 4.4 or higher.

Special Speakers:
Timothy Dixon, Principal’s Advisory Board member and senior, speaks at the Scholastic Banquet on April 16, 2018. To qualify for the Scholastic Banquet in the 2018-2019 school year, seniors must have a cumulative GPA of 4.4 or higher.

Special Speakers:
Timothy Dixon, Principal’s Advisory Board member and senior, speaks at the Scholastic Banquet on April 16, 2018. To qualify for the Scholastic Banquet in the 2018-2019 school year, seniors must have a cumulative GPA of 4.4 or higher.

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Recently, the PTO changed the requirements a student needs to meet to be invited to the Scholastic Banquet, which is scheduled for April 15. Until this year, the administration invited the top 3 percent of students based on their cumulative GPA, but this year, as they are introducing cut-off GPAs; a student’s GPA must now be above a certain cut-off for his or her grade level in order for the student to be able to attend. Additionally, starting this year, the PTO decided not to invite freshmen to the banquet.

Assistant Principal Amy Skeens-Benton said, “We knew that changes needed to be made a while back. What was interesting to us is that a group of AP students who had attended the banquet had shared with some of their AP teachers that they felt (the selection process) was unfair because it was a constantly moving target. It actually pitted (students) against one another, and they felt their academic accomplishments should be based on what they’ve done and not necessarily what someone didn’t do or did do.”

In contrast, Top Scholar and senior Joey Heerens said he thinks the changes inhibit motivation to get higher grades.

He said, “It has kind of taken away the fact that with top 3 percent when you put it at a fixed cutoff instead, you now have this thing where everyone now chases only one goal or one thing rather than just being in a certain percentile of the class. When you are just chasing one fixed goal to be accomplished, you are not going to be as motivated to be above it.”

Skeens-Benton said the decision to not include freshmen was made because some students who went to middle schools with honors programs would have higher GPAs coming into freshman year, which could inflate their GPAs as freshman eligibility for the banquet was determined based on one semester of high school and any high school credits they earned in middle school.

Melinda Stephan, college and career coordinator, said these changes are in line with the school’s long-lasting decision not to rank students. She said, “At a school like CHS, you can have a 4.0 (GPA) and over and not even be in the top 10 percent of your class, so if we were so focused on the ranking it would actually detract from the student’s application or overall profile.”

“There’s no desire to take away recognition from students,” Stephan added. “It’s more about approaching it from maybe a more healthy perspective. I think we see a lot of very stressed students, and if there are small steps we can take to sort of alleviate some of that stress, it’s a win-win.”

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Ceramics Wheels:
Junior Zach Devore spins his clay pot on the wheel in the ceramics 4 class on March 18. He said, “I enjoy this class because it isn’t stressful and I can listen to music while talking with my friends too.”

Men's Track and Field:
Samuel (Sam) Rogers, men's track runner and senior, completes a sprint during practice on March 19. The team's next contest will take them to Indiana University on March 23, where they will compete in the Hoosier State Relay Finals.

Chinese Culture:
Sophomore Owen Eckart listens to a presentation about the Chinese yo-yo during the NCHS's cultural immersion meeting after school on Mar 14, 2019. The NCHS has been hosting a multitude of Chinese cultural immersion presentations meant to spread an intrest in Chinese to anyone who would come to the meetings. In this specific meeting, headed by Treasurer Grace Hong, the history behind, and the way to use a Chinese yo-yo was shown. After the presentation, the guests were allowed to play with the yo-yos and discuss any other Chinese culture that they have experienced before.

Bring It On:
Sophomore Isabel Garcia practices her part in the upcoming school musical, on Mar 19, 2019. The upcoming musical is called "Bring It On" and is a musical that focuses on the competitive world of cheer-leading. The instructors, Kylie Barker and Samuel Chenoweth have been working with these students since Mar 4, and and the first showing of the musical will be on May 9 at 7 p.m.

Heightened Experience:
Tech theater student and sophomore Ben Outland works on cabling lights on March 18 for upcoming musical Bring It On which runs May 9-11. Outland said, “tech theater is a really fun time. After school you get to hang out with some of your friends and you just get to do cool stuff, like hanging up lights, wiring things, building things, and all that kinda stuff.”

Model Making:
Sophomore Bradley Snyder holds his model skeleton after learning about muscles on March 18 during Human Body Systems class. Model skeletons allow students to be able to hand make parts of the body. Snyder has a passion for science and aspires to be a doctor when he is older. Human Body Systems is one of the many science classes offered to sophomores at Carmel High School.

“Schoolmade” Pasta:
To start off the fourth quarter, junior Alexa Barreras makes fresh pasta in her foreign foods class on Mar. 18 along with the other members of her group. This lab prepared the class for their field trip next class.

A Foot Above The Rest:
John Micheal Mulloy, varsity basketball player and senior, holds the ball before attempting a layup during their game against Fort Wayne Dwenger High School on February 20. Mulloy is the tallest student on the Carmel High School basketball team. Mulloy will be attending Butler University for basketball in the fall of next year.

Body Building:
Sophomore Ayla Dimon creates muscles located on the human body out of clay to put on her Mannekin in her Human Body Systems class on March 15. Dimon says that they use the Mannekins to learn where different body parts and organs are located on the human body and it helps her visualize where everything is located in her head.

Weekend Ready:
Junior Emma Uber shows off her comedy skills on March 14 at the end of a math class. Students are typically allowed to pack their school bags and talk with friends during
last few minutes at the end of a class period. Uber says she loves to talk with her friends and make other people smile.

Art for the Community:
Lexi Carter, National Art Honor Society (NAHS) member and sophomore, works on a collaborative painting of lightning during a meeting on March 7. Carter said NAHS is a nationally organized club where students can apply to participate in art-centered projects to better their school and community.

Tassel:
Junior Jess Greven talks about the rules of being a TASSEL VSEE instructor on March 11th after school at the Carmel Clay Public Library. Greven used a Powerpoint presentation to better teach the newly recruited instructors.

Presentation Preparation:
Sophomore Mary Grace Jacko (front) works on her English presentation in her Honors English 10 class with her partner sophomore Ivy Nugent (back) on March 12. Jacko plans to take AP Seminar next year and is excited for this presentation as it is formatted similarly to an AP Seminar presentation.

Resource Time Rehearsal: Sophomores and Honors English 10 students, Abbey Grogan and Annie Surette, rehearse for their medical presentations the SRT before their class period. Honors English 10 students had spent the third quarter researching an issue in the medical field, and were then tasked with finding a solution to this problem. The concept of the presentation was based on the novel the students read, Brain on Fire, for the third quarter.

Comedysportz:
The Carmel Comedysportz team celebrates after the announcement that they have won their match on Feb 22 in the Carmel High School studio theater. The Comedysportz team participates in competitive improvisation games at local high schools, their next home match will be March 21 and 22 in the studio theater.

Impromptu Interviews:
CHTV reporter and junior Cameron Beteet records an interview for CHTV during SRT in the commons. Beteet moved the camera back and adjusted the settings to fit the interviewer and senior Ayanna Newhouse, interviewee and junior Emme Walschlager and interviewee and senior Charlie Hunter.

Ceramics Creates Celebrities:
Sophomore Natalie Hanna attempts to sculpt the face of the famous singer, Rihanna, in her ceramics 4 class. Each student in the class chose a celebrity they admire for this project to end the third quarter.

French Fun: During a game in French III on Feb. 21, Freshman Sarah Patel points to a possible answer choice on the board and whispers what she thinks the answer is to her partner, Sophomore Owen Gastineau. The objective of the game was to choose the right conduction of a verb in French and the team that won the most amount of points won a piece of candy.

SRT in the Studio: Senior and AP Studio Art student, Nate Burgess, spends his SRT working on and touching up his landscape painting. Burgess said he has been involved in art at CHS since his freshman year and created a variety of works.

Carmel Pep Band: Junior Julia Roth plays in CHS's pep band for the men's basketball Varsity game held on Feb. 15, 2019. CHS played against Warren High School and the game ended with a score of 69 to 52.. The Carmel Pep band plays in the breaks and intermissions of the game such as the beginning, timeouts, halftime, and at the end, playing songs such as Radioactive and Sweet Caroline.

Carnation Sales: NHS member and senior Sai Pothireddy sells carnations for Valentine's Day in the Main Cafeteria on Feb. 6 during lunch. Other volunteers in NHS have planned to pass out the carnations on Feb. 13 during SRT.

Smoothing the Edges: Freshman and Jewelry I student, Faith Knight, smooths the edges of her most recent project in SRT, January 28. Knight said that new jewelry students work on basic skills and apply them to their projects throughout the semester.

Accounting Assistance:
Carmel Cafe employee and junior Faith Adamson helps her fellow cashier Nina Hecht on the iPad in the Cafe on Jan. 23. The Carmel Cafe opens at 7:15 a.m. every morning and is available as a space for students to purchase drinks, cookies and enjoy a quiet place to relax or work on homework.

Class Award Cookies: Students grab refreshments after attending the Class Awards meeting during SRT on Jan. 17. Students received class awards from teachers for exemplary work during the second grading period.

Artistic Approach: Drawing 2 student and sophomore Colleen Sullivan works on a colored pencil drawing of her hand on Dec. 16. After the class completed several small sketches within the first few days of the semester, they moved on to planning their first major project, which featured foreshortening.

Friends in French: French teacher Mrs. Schmitt talks with CHS French club members in her classroom on Jan 15, 2019 after they turn in forms for going to the Congrès Competition on Feb 9. Angela Chen (far right), french club member and sophomore, said that for the competition the club will “go to another school and compete in some french related activities.”

Free Finals Period:
Sophomore Jacob Olekszyk plays Super Smash Bros on his Nintendo Switch during a free period on finals week. Some students who are required to attend school find themselves with free time during at least one of their testing periods. While some students utilize this time to study and get ready for the next final, some will use this time to sit back and relax from their finals to take the stress off their minds.

Utilizing Office Hours:
Sophomore Lucas Lu utilizes office hours to study for an upcoming final on December 20th 2018. Office hours are free periods of time in the morning from 7:00 to 11:45 where students can study and socialize. This allows for people to either get in a last preparation for classes or retake previous tests to help raise their grades.